Have the 49ers Improved Their Defensive Line?

Armstead and Young both got big money from other teams, while the 49ers' additions were relatively cost effective. But were they upgrades?
Nov 19, 2023; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd (56) reacts to
Nov 19, 2023; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd (56) reacts to / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

The main thing the 49ers did this offseason was revamp their defensive line, but did they improve it?

First, they got rid of Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw, Chase Young, Randy Gregory and Clelin Ferrell. Then they added Maliek Collins, Jordan Elliott, Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos.

Armstead and Young both got big money from other teams, while the 49ers' additions were relatively cost effective. But were they upgrades?

Other than Nick Bosa, the 49ers defensive ends last season were attrocious and didn't fit the Wide 9 scheme. Young and Gregory couldn't stop the run, and Ferrell was a complete zero as a pass rusher. The 49ers should have simply re-signed Charles Omenihu in 2023, but they let him walk and tried unsuccessfully to replace him.

Floyd and Gross-Matos are big upgrades over the defensive ends the 49ers had last season. Floyd will give the 49ers to disguise their pressures because he can drop into coverage, and Gross-Matos has the ability to rush the quarterback from the interior of the defensive line on third downs, which gives the 49ers' defensive line options.

At defensive tackle, Armstead and Kinlaw both are former first-round picks with tons of talent, but both also have serious chronic injuries -- Kinlaw has a knee issue and Armstead has plantar fasciitis. Their replacements -- Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott -- do NOT have chronic injuries. Which means they'll be better than Armstead and Kinlaw when those two are injured, which is most of the time.

So yes, the 49ers did improve their defensive line this offseason.


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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.